The Small Giants Community

We are an organization committed to the development of values-driven business leaders. We take entrepreneurs on a journey, supporting them each step of the way with the resources, events, mentorship and connections needed to take their business to the next level and bring their vision to reality.

Our Story

We’ll let our CEO, Paul Spiegelman tell the Small Giants story… “Let’s go back to the very beginning. In 2006, I read Bo’s book, and it inspired me for two reasons. First, I identified with every single one of the companies that Bo talked about in his book - small to mid-sized privately-held companies doing business differently. I immediately recognized a shared vision in the way that I approach business. These leaders were passionate and purposeful; committed to growing not just for growth’s sake, but to enhance the lives of the people that worked in the company.

Second, I heard echoes of my own experience in the stories he shared. As my company grew, I became a deep believer in the connection between culture and business success. In fact, I had just written my first book on the topic, and found myself working to convince other leaders to consider this transformative style of leadership. After reading Small Giants, I took a shot in the dark and sent a blind email to Bo asking if he would consider writing a foreword for my book. To my surprise, he said yes - and as we got to know one another, a true friendship emerged.

Over the next couple of years, I often told Bo that I suspected there were many more leaders like me out there who would identify with the Small Giants philosophies. Selfishly, I wanted to find a way to meet them. Look - we’re all trying to make our way in business, and there’s no better way to do it than to find like-minded individuals with whom we can learn from and share best practices. And while we can all choose to attend conferences headlined by famous entrepreneurs, I’d rather find practitioners just like me with real stories, a keen sense of vulnerability and heart to connect with one-to-one. That’s when I had the big idea. Why not establish a community of inspired, like-minded leaders - from aspiring Small Giants to seasoned leaders - and engage them with teaching, challenging and learning from one another?

Over dinner one night, Bo challenged me to take the idea from vision to reality. He said that to do this, we would need an entrepreneur to take the idea and run with it. After all, he was a writer by trade who had spent nearly 30 years with Inc. Although he wrote about businesses all the time, he had never run one himself. Meanwhile, I was running my own successful company and pursuing the Small Giants philosophy with my employees on a daily basis. That’s when I committed to bringing the idea to life, and the Small Giants Community was born.

It’s true - there are already a number of CEO peer groups and leadership communities out there. But, we knew we would differentiate ourselves in one key way…our members would share a passion for values-driven leadership, committing to let purpose and people drive our strategies rather than financials. In our new Community, we would develop relationships with each other by designing intimate, unique events, delivering backstage passes to incredible companies and finding ways to impact each other’s businesses and lives in measurable, positive ways.

I’m so proud of our Community and what is has grown to be, but I’m most proud of the common refrain that we hear from new members. They say that in our Community, they’ve found their “family” of the business world. If our ideas, values, and even our origin story resonate with you, we hope you’ll choose to be part of our mission - and a part of our family.

In the end, it’s not what we do, it’s who we are - we’re the Small Giants Community.”

Paul Spiegelman

Founder & CEO

Our purpose is to identify, connect and develop values-driven business leaders.

Our Team

Meet the people working behind-the-scenes to put the Small Giants philosophy at the forefront of conversation and practice:

Hamsa is a business leader who is passionate about people, process and growth. She grew up in Baghdad, Iraq, moving to the U.S in 1991. Her first language is Arabic, and she speaks English and Spanish. Hamsa received her bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Wayne State University and her MBA from Walsh College. After college, Hamsa worked for an immigration agency to help refugee and asylee populations assimilate into the US, learn English, and find employment. She then joined Walsh College as their first international student advisor where she helped recruit, admit and counsel over 400 international students over a period of 9 years. In her four years at Mango Languages, Hamsa recruited and mentored many employees, providing outstanding leadership. She was promoted to the COO/Integrator role in 2012, and helped lead Mango to its most successful year in 2014.

Paul Spiegelman is Chief Culture Officer of Stericycle, a NASDAQ listed global services organization with 20,000+ employees and is the Founder of BerylHealth, The Beryl Institute and the Small Giants Community.

Paul is a New York Times best-selling author and has been honored with the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Paul is a sought-after speaker and author on leadership, employee engagement, entrepreneurship, corporate culture, and customer relationships. He makes frequent radio and TV appearances and his views have been featured in the Wall Street Journal and Inc. Magazine.

Paul practiced law for two years prior to founding BerylHealth. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from UCLA and a law degree from Southwestern University. To learn more about Paul, please visit www.paulspiegelman.com.

Bo Burlingham is the author of Small Giants: Companies That Choose To Be Great Instead of Big (Portfolio, 2006) and an editor-at-large of Inc. Magazine. Bo joined Inc. in January 1983 as a senior editor and became executive editor six months later, a position he held for the next seven years or so. In 1990 he became editor-at-large for a number of reasons, including his desire to go back to writing. He subsequently wrote two books with Jack Stack, the co-founder and CEO of Springfield Remanufacturing Corp. and the pioneer of open-book management. One of the books, The Great Game of Business, has sold more than 300,000 copies. The other, A Stake in the Outcome, has also done pretty well and gotten great reviews.

Before joining Inc., Bo freelanced for various publications, including Esquire, Harper’s, Boston Magazine, and Mother Jones. Bo was also managing editor of Ramparts magazine. In 1982, he joined Fidelity Investments, where he wrote for Peter Lynch, Ned Johnson, and other honchos until coming to Inc. From 1992 to 1997, he served on the board of The Body Shop Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of the international cosmetics company. He was also a founder, with Tom Peters, of PAC World, a weird international networking group that gave him a chance to meet a lot of zany—and brilliant—people from around the globe.

Jillian received her B.A. in Sociology and Creative Writing from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI in 2012. She graduated with honors from U of M’s Residential College. For over four years, Jillian has worked as a freelance writer, working with a range of diverse clients to provide creative, high-quality writing, editing, and social media services. Jillian partners with brands to elevate their messaging, strengthen their voice, and create consistent, powerful copy. From managing Chevrolet’s social media to helping a small, bean-to-bar chocolate company market their mission, her experience runs the gamut. She is excited to work with the Small Giants Community to tell the incredible stories of its leaders and promote their philosophies the world over. Outside of her daily work, Jillian loves to write and read short fiction and essays. She’s a lifelong Michigander and the proud owner of a very dysfunctional - but very cute - shih tzu.

Julia received her B.A. in Organizational Studies and German from the University of Michigan in 2016. She is passionate about organizational development, culture, and the impact that great organizations have on their employees, customers, and communities. Julia was born near the Mosel river in Trier, Germany (an amazing region for growing Riesling grapes), which she attributes to sparking her love for wine.

Hamsa Daher

Executive Director

Hamsa is a business leader who is passionate about people, process and growth. She grew up in Baghdad, Iraq, moving to the U.S in 1991. Her first language is Arabic, and she speaks English and Spanish. Hamsa received her bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Wayne State University and her MBA from Walsh College. After college, Hamsa worked for an immigration agency to help refugee and asylee populations assimilate into the US, learn English, and find employment. She then joined Walsh College as their first international student advisor where she helped recruit, admit and counsel over 400 international students over a period of 9 years. In her four years at Mango Languages, Hamsa recruited and mentored many employees, providing outstanding leadership. She was promoted to the COO/Integrator role in 2012, and helped lead Mango to its most successful year in 2014.

Paul Spiegelman

Founder and CEO

Paul Spiegelman is Chief Culture Officer of Stericycle, a NASDAQ listed global services organization with 20,000+ employees and is the Founder of BerylHealth, The Beryl Institute and the Small Giants Community.

Paul is a New York Times best-selling author and has been honored with the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Paul is a sought-after speaker and author on leadership, employee engagement, entrepreneurship, corporate culture, and customer relationships. He makes frequent radio and TV appearances and his views have been featured in the Wall Street Journal and Inc. Magazine.

Paul practiced law for two years prior to founding BerylHealth. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from UCLA and a law degree from Southwestern University. To learn more about Paul, please visit www.paulspiegelman.com.

Bo Burlingham

Author, Small Giants

Bo Burlingham is the author of Small Giants: Companies That Choose To Be Great Instead of Big (Portfolio, 2006) and an editor-at-large of Inc. Magazine. Bo joined Inc. in January 1983 as a senior editor and became executive editor six months later, a position he held for the next seven years or so. In 1990 he became editor-at-large for a number of reasons, including his desire to go back to writing. He subsequently wrote two books with Jack Stack, the co-founder and CEO of Springfield Remanufacturing Corp. and the pioneer of open-book management. One of the books, The Great Game of Business, has sold more than 300,000 copies. The other, A Stake in the Outcome, has also done pretty well and gotten great reviews.

Before joining Inc., Bo freelanced for various publications, including Esquire, Harper’s, Boston Magazine, and Mother Jones. Bo was also managing editor of Ramparts magazine. In 1982, he joined Fidelity Investments, where he wrote for Peter Lynch, Ned Johnson, and other honchos until coming to Inc. From 1992 to 1997, he served on the board of The Body Shop Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of the international cosmetics company. He was also a founder, with Tom Peters, of PAC World, a weird international networking group that gave him a chance to meet a lot of zany—and brilliant—people from around the globe.

Jillian Rodriguez

Storyteller at Large

Jillian received her B.A. in Sociology and Creative Writing from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI in 2012. She graduated with honors from U of M’s Residential College. For over four years, Jillian has worked as a freelance writer, working with a range of diverse clients to provide creative, high-quality writing, editing, and social media services. Jillian partners with brands to elevate their messaging, strengthen their voice, and create consistent, powerful copy. From managing Chevrolet’s social media to helping a small, bean-to-bar chocolate company market their mission, her experience runs the gamut. She is excited to work with the Small Giants Community to tell the incredible stories of its leaders and promote their philosophies the world over. Outside of her daily work, Jillian loves to write and read short fiction and essays. She’s a lifelong Michigander and the proud owner of a very dysfunctional - but very cute - shih tzu.

Julia Kortberg

Marketing Coordinator

Julia received her B.A. in Organizational Studies and German from the University of Michigan in 2016. She is passionate about organizational development, culture, and the impact that great organizations have on their employees, customers, and communities. Julia was born near the Mosel river in Trier, Germany (an amazing region for growing Riesling grapes), which she attributes to sparking her love for wine.